Photo Gallery: UF Women's basketball vs. High Point, 12/21/09

The University of Florida women’s basketball team was unable to overcome a 12-point second-half deficit and 11 High Point 3-pointers in a 75-68 loss to the Panthers on Monday in the championship game of the Gator Holiday Classic in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.

Senior forward Sharielle Smith led the Gators (5-6) with a team-high 11 points to go along with 11 rebounds for her fifth career double-double and second this season.

Florida, which trailed by as many as 12 points in the second half and was down 56-46 with 11:45 remaining, used a 9-0 run to cut within one, 56-55, on a Jennifer George basket with 6:48 left in the game. After trading baskets, a George hoop at the 4:51 mark gave the Gators their first lead of the second half at 59-58.

High Point then ran off six consecutive points to go up 64-59 before a Jennifer Mossor basket with 2:06 left brought Florida to within three, 64-61. Smith missed a 3-pointer from the left corner and then fouled attempting to grab the offensive rebound. The Panthers’ Lateisha Dean then canned a 3-pointer from the other end to put High Point ahead for good at 67-61.

Florida shot 42.4 percent (28-of-66) from the floor in the game, but connected on just 5-of-25 from beyond the arc. The Panthers, who shot 46.2 percent (24-of-52), thrived from long range, making 11-of-18 3-point goals. High Point also capitalized on 16-of-19 free-throw attempts.

The University of Florida Gators were defeated by the High Point Panthers 75-68 in the Steven C. O'Connell Center in Gainesville, Fla. on Monday, December 21, 2009. / Gator Country photo by Casey Brooke Lawson